Oath
by Kye Above
Summary: A chance meeting between Matthew and a young Near at a beach in 1998 puts future events a step out of line when a simple childhood promise and an unknown magic come into play, and Matthew and other countries join the battle against Kira. But Alfred's recent reluctance to fight and Kiku's total acceptance of Kira might just be what ruins Near's plans.


**I know that I shouldn't be starting a new story, but I thought that I might as well put this up to see if anyone liked the idea. **

**Take note of the fact that Near is only four in this particular chapter, so he hasn't grown into his true personality yet so he's purposely mostly OOC. All misspellings in his dialogue were intended, since I'm sure that his speech wasn't always crisp and focused.**

* * *

Matthew was not entirely adjusted to the kind of hot summer heat that one found in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. He was used to spending time in the much colder parts of Canada, making the warmth he found to be just a little overwhelming. He very much preferred to spend only winters in British Columbia, but his boss, his groan inducing boss, had insisted that he take a break there for the summer.

That was why he was currently hiding under a beach umbrella, running his fingers through the warm sand. He listened to families laughing and creating memories with each other, ones that they'd most likely forget within a year. He didn't look at any of them though, looking instead at the inside of his maple leaf decorated umbrella. He'd gotten it for himself on Canada Day, his birthday, which was ignored of what it really was. His 'Birth'day, which he was used to celebrating alone.

He really wished that he was back at the summer house that he was borrowing for the summer, but something had urged him to use his last few days wisely. Summer was almost ending, and soon he would have to return to work, which was even worse than the heat. He was regretting that choice to go, as it wasn't even lunch time, and his day was already miserable.

Since it seemed his invisibility extended to humans, not many people seemed to realize that he was there. Multiple people had set up their blankets around him, trapping him, and before that he had been getting sand kicked in his face by bratty children who were fighting with each other. Someone had even tried to take his umbrella, not realizing that he was there. He wished he had Kumajirou with him. But his bear would do even worse in the heat then he was, being a polar bear.

Sweated beaded down his face, and the water looked so tempting, but he didn't want to leave his stuff behind. And the sun kept threatening him. But he could manage it if he could get everything close to the water, but still far enough that nothing would get wet. The beaches were lined with children playing in the sand, with barely a gap in between them all. Three kids were currently getting into territory fight, their piles of sand getting destroyed in the process. He diverted his attention from them, trying to see if he could find a spot. And since fate decided to smile upon him just once, he finally spotted an empty enough spot near the end of the beach.

With some difficulty, he managed to collect up everything and make it around his captors. It was hard navigating around the humans, but eventually he made it to the spot that he had seen. There were still many people around, but less than where he had been due to the more rocky sand. There was only a lone child in the area, surrounded by many beach toys. A large pile of sand, taller then the child much have been, sat proudly in the late-morning sun.

After Matthew had set up everything, he spent some time in the water, just floating or dunking under the water, very occasionally looking over at his stuff, which remained untouched. His attention was eventually caught by the boy he had seen earlier, as a magnificent castle slowly formed from the sand, seemingly professionally made, yet crafted by only a small child. He was sure the boy would grow up to be a great artist.

Matthew dunked his head under the water once again.

* * *

Anything the boy did, and Matthew's expectancy that his invisibility applied to everyone, gave the country no reason to believe that the boy, (almost) four year old Nate River, had noticed his starring. The young blond, not white like his father's new fiancee claimed his hair was, caught onto the staring quite quickly, since he was quite observant for his age. He could tell, even from a distance, that the young man's attention was not focused on him, but the castle he was building. Nate found this a bit strange. No one else had paid mind to the useless creations before.

Despite his under-developed mind, Nate figured out a few simple things just by looking, something most his age would never had bothered with. The umbrella told that the young man had to be Canadian born, or he at least had a great respect for the country. Him being alone implied that either all the people he knew were working or that he didn't know many umbrella also showed that the young man had a certain dislike for the sun, as most people Nate had seen only brought umbrellas on very hot days. Today was quite mild for the area.

Nate glanced over at his father and the man's fiancee, who were laughing and talking, like they had forgotten that everything, most importantly him, was there around them. He didn't mind all that much. He'd grown up with it. He knew he should have felt more upset that he was being neglected, a fact that he'd been trying to hide from those at his daycare, simply because he didn't want their pity or their worry. He enjoyed his life enough that he didn't want to change. He didn't want to change.

He paused in his work to watch the young man who had caught his attention. He appeared to be a better swimmer than Nate thought he'd ever be. Nate honestly hated the water, and he vaguely remembered a time in which he had almost drowned, which would have been the source of that hate. But it looked like fun, something evidenced by the smile on the young man's face.

Matthew finally pulled himself onto shore just as his stomach threatened him for food. He looked over at the boy's castle yet another time, and was almost surprised to see that not much progress had been made since he last looked, but he figured the kid had taken a break at some point.

He strolled back under the umbrella, and after a vainful search, wished he had thought to pack some food. But he had truthfully never expected to make it as long as he had. To Matthew this was a sign that it was time to leave, a chance that he would readily take advantage of. He would had started packing, if it wasn't for one thing. One person, that is.

Nate wasn't sure what had made him want to approach the young man, despite knowing so little about him, but he told himself that it was because he seemed interesting. He had seen the man scrambling for food, so he had taken some fruit from the cooler so he'd have a reason to talk to him. All thoughts of 'don't talk to strangers' were pushed aside for what Nate saw as rational, as he had walked over with the plate.

"You were watchin' me build my sandcastle, I believe." Nate said, offering the young man the plate. Matthew blinked a few times at the hospitality, coming from a young child of all kinds of people, not sure if he should accept. The boy's parents could not be very happy about it, and probably not take well to the fact that he had been watching their son. But his stomach won over him, and he took it from the boy.

"Thank you…this is sort of weird for me. I didn't mean to stare so much. But you're doing a very good job at building your castle." Matthew tried to not come off as creepy, though the boy didn't seem to think he was any bit like that. The blond haired boy sat down, and nodded.

"Yeah, kids aren't mean' to talk to strangers. But you didn't seem like you're like those bad ones my dad is always telling me about." He grabbed for a piece of his curly hair, and started twirling it in his fingers. The boy was definitely precocious.

Children should never talk to strangers, because there were so many bad ones that walked the streets. Matthew himself would never hurt a child, but the boy had made a big gamble talking to him. The boy could have approached someone like Francis, who, despite being a very loving father to Matthew before he had been forced to give him over to Arthur, came off as quite creepy.

"How did you know that I was good, eh?" Nate looked up at his new friend with mature dark eyes, and smirked. Almost all children that Matthew had ever known until always had a warming and cute smile, but this boy did not. It clear the boy had never learnt to smile.

"I find that'I can not figure that out. There's just something about you that's interesting. I like that. Most people are boring. Most people also don't like the things I make." They both glanced at the sandcastle, which was too far from being finished and drying in the afternoon sun.

"You're very talented. I could never make anything like that." Matthew complimented. The boy nodded, looking pleased with himself.

"Yeah, probably not. No one can make things like I do. But I heard everyone's good at something. I haven't seen good reason to believe this, as…" He stopped himself, tugging at his hair. He looked up at Matthew again. "Do you want to help me finish it? I can't get it very high by myself." Matthew smiled down at the kid, only a little surprised that he'd be asked to.

"Sure! Oh, and my name is Matthew Williams. Since we didn't exchange names yet." He put aside the now empty plate, and stood up as the boy did. Though it didn't quite reach his face completely, the boy seemed happy to have a playmate.

"I'm Nate River." He then practically ran towards his castle, with Matthew close behind. Nate's parents would have no reason to worry that Nate was playing with a much older person. Even if they remembered that the boy was there, they wouldn't have noticed Matthew. Only Nate could see him.

/

By the end of the near day, the castle was big enough to gain the attention of some of the people remaining at the beach. They marveled at the fact that a mere child had done it all seemingly by himself, forever unaware that Matthew was there.

"Matthew?" Nate asked as he picked sand out from under his nails. "Could we see each other again one day. You're the only person I've met in my life that isn't an idiot." Matthew would have laughed at his reasoning, but he limited himself to a simple smile. He was glad that he was making the kid happy, and that he could actually see him.

"Of course, one day." Matthew said, his smile growing. Nate actually giggled, which was rare for him to their fun had to end, as Nate was called over by his father. When Matthew watched him leave, he began to doubt that he'd ever see the precocious boy again. It had really just been a chance meeting.

But as Nate waved back, Matthew let himself pretend again that in some bizarre way, they would be able to play again one day.

* * *

**Should I continue? **

**Chapter Notes**

**Okanagan Valley - An area that is basically the California of Canada. It has hot summers and mild winters, and a lot of fresh fruit. It's a lovely place to be, but can be busy in some places.**

**Near being blond - This in my headcanon, and probably is canon. At no point has it been stated in any official source that Near is albino. And when he's shown in sunlight (at Wammy's House) and not under the light of computer screens in a dark room his hair clearly looks blond.**


End file.
